Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1887-03-17
WANDERING nHSfRELS.

| - ne "1S n1StcntnS nome nom the war
singing From Palestine hither come
Lady love. lady love, welcome me home.
The lines awaken q vague assooia.
tion Of old romance. Of love in sons
and story, bat very little il though,
ot the important place held BY the
minstrel poets in their day and sener.
alton. The songs they sang were
their own. and though avowedly the
poets Of love, war was a. often their
theme. They fourishsd in the north
1s~ry ~uu svusu Va T-rmaUv Ivsa sns
eleventh to the fifteenth century. and
some Of their metrical accounts of
battles and heroic acts. particularly
the epics of Bertrand do Born, have
been accepted as historical chronicles
of the days Of chivalry.
They chanted Of war and mighty
deeds Of valOr. at the bidding of war.
like monarchs and doughty knights,
in tented fields and lofty castles, but
it was Of love and courts and high.
born ladies (who mostly held them in
great esteem) that the troubadours
most loved to sing, aud the passion
that their numbers celebrated these
gallant minstrels themselves either
felt or feigned in the highest degree.
Like the knights of their time, each
devoted himself to some fair lady,
and was supposed to live only for her
sake. while to be more worthy of her,
he cultivated courtesy of manner and
purity Of life, or at least, what was
so considered in those days Of easy
morals.
Their romantic lives were filled
like their poetry with passion, des-
pair, Jealously, revenge and wild ad-
ventures. and terminated often in
tragical deaths. Some of them aimed
loftily in selecting a lady-love, and
one of their craft, Bertrand Venta-
dour, himself the son of a servant,
was the favored lover of Eleanor, the
queen of Henry II. of England.
One Of the troubadours most dis
tinguished for genius and extrava-
CANT adventures was Pierre Vidal.
His tickle fancy led him to frequent
changes in the object of it; and his
inordinate vanity led him into auda-
cious acts and indiscreet boasting,
which sometimes won severe lessons
for him from indignant husbands and
bi others. Once, finding the beauti
ful Duchess of Rogue MARITIME asleep.
ne had the irnpertinence to kiss her.
In her wrath she banished him from
Marsailles. and he went with the cru
saders to the Holy Land. where he
was made the victim of what we
should nowadays call a practical
joke.
The crusading knights disguised
low woman as Empress of the Orient,
and informed him that she loved him
and wished to marry him. He i'm
mediately feigned an immense attach.
ment for her, assumed royal robes
and title. and erect d throne for his
bride. the waggish bsrons supplying
money to carry on the farce for a
short time. but on finding himself ths
object of a joke, poor Vidal fed to
Europe, there to be the victim Of a
genuine passion for lady whose
name signifies the wolf. In compli-
ment to her. he clothed himself in the
skins of wolves and allowed shepherds
and dogs to pursue and attack him
till he died from fatigue and loss of
blood. 1t is TO be hoped that his Ia
dy OF the savage name Was pleased
with the delicate compliment paid to
1t by her late lover, but history is ST.
lent concerning her feelings.
Another troubadour whose love cost
him his life was William de Ia Tour.
His lady eloped with him from hus-
band who. if history is to be trusted,
was infinitely his superior. The re-
creant wife probably took this view
Of it later on. for che died Of rsmorse
for her act. Her lover refused to be
comforted for her loss, and rejecting
food or drink, haunted the vault in
which her body lay, taking it from its
resting place and caressing and ad.
dressing it in the most extravsganl
manner. After ten days of this in.
sane conduct. be was driven away BY
the country people. aud after wan.
dering about a short time died in dis.
pair.
GeOffrey Rudel vas troubadouI
who made pilgrimage to the Holy
LAND, and then lost his heart to th.
Princess Of Tripoli. Having less van
ity than others Of his vocation. b.
did not tell her Of his love; but re.
turning to Europe. made her th.
theme of all his poetry. and in sweet